GNU/Linux is the current hype. It is extending its market share really fast in netbooks and smartphones. In Desktop place, Ubuntu, one distribution of GNU/Linux, is working hard to shake the position of Microsoft Windows. And it is actually gaining grounds! For the first time, a serious challenger of Windows arrives. Here, I will present to you a short list of why you should try Ubuntu. It is by no mean complete, but is the best of my exprience.
1. Ubuntu is easy. Seriously. Imagine: you don't have firewall and antivirus configuration to worry about (do you want to unlock this program, again?). Plus, you don't need to to search around the internet for an installer: You can install new softwares from your own computers! With searches and description and everything. Plus, you have a community behind you. Any question will be answered, no matter how trivial it is. And, the people there will not charge you anything. Lastly, the documentation is great. Most things are documented, and you can get descriptions to most stuffs rather easy.
2. Ubuntu is fast. Okay, I know, Windows 7 is rumored to be fast, too. How fast, may I ask? Faster than XP? Of course not. "Faster" = "a bit better than Vista", right? In GNU/Linux world, faster means boot up in 15 seconds. Of course, Ubuntu will take like 30 to 45 seconds, but it is usually faster than XP, leave alone Vista and 7. Even after booting, it is much more responsive, and applications often work much more smoothly.
3. Ubuntu is pretty. Now, you see Mac OS, right? Ubuntu can be made to look the same, or better (this depends on tastes, of course). Its 3D effects are superior to those of Mac OS. Plus, you have many choices for Graphical Interface manager. I personally like Enlightenment, which is extremely pretty and fast. Notice the absence of Windows? Sorry, Microsoft, but you have no place in this discussion.
4. Ubuntu is secure. I have never been attacked by virus and/or spyware and/or adware in Ubuntu. Don't remind me all of the nights scanning for viruses and reinstall Windows due to those things. They are painful, and scary, memories. I have used Ubuntu and some other distributions of GNU/Linux for more than 2 years, by the way.
5. Ubuntu is reliable. Have I told you that Windows give me 5 Blue Screens of Death on the first day I received a new computer with Windows? I have never seen Kernel Panic (Linux's equivalent), though, which is kind of disappointed. I wish I had it once so I can be more fair, but, oh well. GNU/Linux has frozen a few times on me, but Ubuntu has not (since Ubuntu is not as playable as other distributions like Gentoo and Fedora). And, Ubuntu scales really nicely with many many programs. I used to use IM, play games in a Virtual Machine, browsing web, and do homework at the same time.
6. Ubuntu is cool. Let's see, you go out, and say: "I am Windows." What would you expect? "Um, excuse me, but everyone here uses Windows. Can you keep your voice down?" How about this: you go out and say: "I am Ubuntu" or "I am GNU/Linux." What can you expect? "Huh? What's Ubuntu? Sounds cool." Or, "Really? Great! Me, too! Let's be friends!". Or, "I am interested in Ubuntu, can you show me how it actually is?". By choosing Ubuntu, you have defined yourself. It's not the type of things that everyone uses. No. It has a definite trails. It is fun. It is not very playable, but reliable. It prides itself on ease of usage. It's like how using Fedora shows your concern over security and reliability and your expertise in Unix; or how using Gentoo shows your ability in computer. What does using Windows tell about you? Nothing. It's just, Windows. Nothing interesting, nothing special, except maybe Richard Stallman will yell at you for surrender your free will.
7. Ubuntu is free and open. Best thing is always saved for the last. You may say, "what does that mean to me?". Well, a lot. Let me tell you an anecdote: once, one component of Ubuntu crashed, and I was asked to fill a bug report; a couple days later, an email arrived at my mailbox, told me that the bug I filled was identified, and was moved to a more appropriate place; it also asked me to tell more if I knew. My opinion is heard, and the software is improved to support me, to fix my problem. How can Microsoft do the same to Windows, or Apple to Mac? Their user bases are just too large for their programmers to do the same. Ubuntu is free, so there are millions, if not more, people working on it, so each and every bug report is read and considered. Because Ubuntu is free and open, I can help out, I can be a part, I can use it the way I want. So can you. So are your opinions. Freedom is not appreciated for artistic reason. No, it has so many practical reasons that sometimes we forget those. And Ubuntu is free.
If the above 7 points are not enough to convince you, there is only one thing left: try it out. Thousands of words are less worthy and a real feeling. Try Ubuntu out, and you will understand. Feel its speed, its beauty, its security, its reliability, its coolness, and its freedom. You will like it, like I do, like many people do.